Getting Started

If you have a compatible browser and a broadband internet connection (preferably cable or DSL), you should have no problem connecting to and using e-Learning in Sakai.

Supported Browsers

For Windows: Firefox 3.x, Internet Explorer 8.x or 7.x

For Mac: Firefox 3.x

Other browsers including Chrome, Safari, and Opera are not supported for use with e-Learning in Sakai. Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4 are not supported at this time. See Known Issues.

Internet Connection

A broadband Internet connection is strongly recommended. Slower connections should still be able to access e-Learning in Sakai, but will take longer to load. A wired Ethernet connection is more dependable for test-taking than a wireless connection.

Special Note about Satellite service: Some users with satellite Internet service may find their online courses do not load quickly or consistently due to satellite network design issues.

Log In

NOTE: If you are going to create a bookmark for Sakai login, please bookmark http://lss.at.ufl.edu, not the actual login page or the "My Workspace" page once you are in Sakai.

Click Continue under the heading "Sakai System Entry"

Login using your gatorlink username and password. After logging in, you will be taken to your "My Workspace," where you can access the courses and/or project sites in which you are enrolled.

Navigating

While using e-Learning in Sakai, avoid using your browser back and forward buttons. Navigate within the system by clicking on links and icons.

Links to Tools are in the menu bar on the left side of the screen. Links to Courses and Project Sites appear as tabs across the top of the page. The Reset icon appears when you are in a tool. Clicking this icon will refresh the view and reset the tool back to it's default screen.

Log Out

A Logout link is located in the upper right corner of the screen. When you click Logout, you are not actually logged out of the system. You must completely close your browser before your logout takes affect. This is especially important if you are using a public computer such as in a library. Make sure you completely close all browsers before you leave the workstation.

Help

Help is available throughout e-Learning in Sakai wherever you see the icon. If you click on the Help icon in the Gradebook, for example, the Help screen that comes up will give you an overview of the Gradebook. If you click on the Help icon in the Announcements tool, you will get an overview of Announcements. You can search for more in depth information if the answers you need are not provided in the overview.

Content Editor - Create HTML Documents and Edit Text

Throughout Sakai, you will see the Content Editor. When you use the Content Editor, you are creating HTML that is viewed in Sakai without students needing to open a MS Word document, a PDF document or other type of file. This type of Content Editor is called a WYSIWIG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, which means that you can create HTML without knowing any HTML coding. You use the icons at the top of the screen to format your content and the Editor automatically inserts the HTML code in the background. If you are comfortable creating an MS Word document, you should experience little difficulty in using the Content Editor.

Tools - Overview of all Available Tools

NOTE: Every tool has a link to "Permissions." Permissions for all tools have been set to most common usage. It is highly recommended that you do not alter these Permissions without a consultation with LSS staff. Altering Permissions may have unintended consequences.

Default Tools

The following is a short description of each of the default tools that are pre-selected for you when you request a course in e-Learning in Sakai. There are other tools available for your use also. See the "Secondary Tools" list to see a short description of those tools.

This space is available to post basic content about your course. Best practice is to use this space to give students information about how to ouse the course, which tools you are using and how, where they can find readings, and how to get help using e-Learning in Sakai (student tutorials and UF Helpdesk). Users also see current Announcements, Calendar postings, unread Mail messages or Forum (Discussion) postings.

Post Assignments to provide a place for students to submit their work. This tool keeps up with who has submitted, who hasn't, date and time of submissions, records grades and feedback to the students. "Turnitin," the online anti-plagiarism tool) reports are available on all MS Word documents attached to the Assignment by students.

Provide content to students in an organized structure with a Table of Contents and navigation. You can provide any type of file including audio and video, as well as links to internal and external content.

A communication tool for communication within e-Learning in Sakai. Users can send a message to individuals, groups, roles, or all users. These mail messages can be cc'd to "gatorlink@ufl.edu" email accounts.

A tool for storing files. There are two main options for using the Resources tool:
1 - Use the Resources as a repository for files used to build the course, such as an image for the home page, image files used in test questions, folders containing Articulate files, etc. These are files that you need for the course, but you don't need students to be able to access these source files. If you choose this option, hide the Resources tool from the students.
Note: Hiding the Resources tool does not prevent students from accessing Resources by other means. It just removes it from the students' toolbar so that they do not think there is content there for them.
2 - Use the Resources as a repository of files to give to the students. Place readings, lecture notes, Power Point presentations, etc., in folders for student access. This option would take the place of the Lessons tool. If you choose this option and you have some files used to build the course such as those described in Option 1, be aware that students will see those files.

Online Assessments can be used for everything from self-assessment study aids to information gathering surveys, to high-stakes exams. The Assessments are automatically graded and can provide feedback to the students at the Instructor's discretion.</p>

Help within Sakai may not be very helpful as it refers to the generic system and not the instance we have at UF. Also, some tools that have been added to the system will show nothing under the "Help" icon. Refer to these UF tutorials for help.

Secondary Tools

The following tools are not provided by default, but are available for you to use. To add any of these tools in your course:

go to Site Info>Edit Tools.

Check the box next to any tool you want to add.

Click Continue. A list of the selected tools will be shown, including any new tools you added to the list will show in red font.

The difference between the Blog and the Discussion tool is that the Discussion is meant to be a conversation among many participants. The Blog is "owned" by a particular participant and contains that person's thoughts. The individual user is in control of who can view and comment on his/her blog.

Chat tool allows real-time online conversations. Unlike a Discussion or a Blog, participants can't post to a Chat at any time, but everyone must be in the Chat room at the same time. This is a very limited Chat tool. There are no instructor controls and no White Board in this Chat tool.

Podcasts are audio files that participants can download to a media device such as an iPod. You can add podcasts of lectures, or any other audio/video material. Students will be able to access the podcasts when they are not connected to the internet, such as on a bus.

Allows participants to see the roster, including, role, user ID and email address, plus a link to the participants' profile where a photo is available (if the participant has set up the profile and made it available).

A collaborative website which can be edited by anyone with access to it. A Wiki requires that editors use a few special codes to format the content, but there is a list of those codes available within the tool so that anyone should be able to add and edit content.

Participants - Overview of all Roles

Student-Type Roles

Student - can view and interact with any content that has been released to them by Instructor.

Auditor - exactly like the "student" role except does not receive a final grade for the course.

CE Student - exactly like the "student" role except is not enrolled through the Registrar. Must be enrolled by the Instructor.

Instructor-Type Roles

Instructor - has full authority to create content, grade submissions and interact with participants.

Facilitator - has most of the privileges of Instructors except they cannot revise announcements and calendar postings made by the Instructor.

Teaching Assistant - has most of the privileges of Instructors except they cannot delete or edit content created by the Instructor, cannot run Site Statistics reports, and cannot create Assessment Types in the Tests & Quizzes tool.

Grader - has fewer privileges than the Teaching Assistant. This role can view content, send mail to participants, access Gradebook and can grade Assignments and Assessments. They cannot create or edit any content except Mail, cannot add or remove participants, and cannot enter the site if it is unpublished.

TA-NonGrading - has the same roles as the Teaching Assistant, except this role cannot grade or access the Gradebook, cannot run Site Statistics reports, or create Assessment Types.

Designer - can create and manage content, but cannot grade or access the Gradebook and has almost no interaction with students. The only interaction with students in the ability to send and receive mail.

Guest Lecturer - has limited ability to post content and interact with students. This role can use the communication tools, create and participate in Chats, Polls and Wiki, and can post content. This role cannot create, edit or grade Assignments or Assessments, edit or delete content added by other Instructors, run Site Statistics reports, or add or remove participants.

Observer - can view all content, Announcements, Calendar entries, etc., but cannot interact with other participants or the content.

Participants - Add, Manage, and Remove

Add Participants

The “Add participants” function allows you to add members to your site. From the menu bar inside the Course or Project Site:

Click Site Info

Click Add Participants

Enter the Gatorlink username(s) of the person(s) you would like to enroll in the box labeled "Gatorlink Username or UFID." You can add more than one person at a time by hitting "Enter" after each username.

If you are assigning all of these participants to the same role, leave the default setting to "Assign off participants to the same role."

If these participants will need different roles, select "Assign each participant a role individually."

Click Continue

If you are assigning the same role to all new users, select the role and click Continue.

If you are assigning different roles, you will see each person listed with a drop-down menu beside her/his name. Select the appropriate role from the drop-down menu and click Continue.

You may notify the new users by email that they have been enrolled in your Course or Project Site by selecting "Send Now." Click Continue.

Verify that names and roles are correct. Click Continue.

You will be returned to your "Site Info" default screen where you can see a complete list of all members and their roles.

Change Participant Role

You have the ability to change the role of users within your course or Project Site. Perhaps you enrolled someone as a Designer, but now want that person to be a TA.

Click Site Info. You should see a complete list of all participants under the heading "(course name) Participant List." (You may have to scroll down, depending on how much information is in your Site Description listed at the top of the page.)

Beside the name of the person you want to change, choose the new role from the drop-down menu.

Click Update Participants.

Remove Participants or Make Them Inactive

You have two options for preventing enrolled individuals from further access to your course; you can make them inactive, or you can remove them altogether. If you remove a TA or other Instructor-type role, content that person created, such as Announcements, Gradebook columns, Assignments, etc., will remain.

Both options will remove the student from the Gradebook and remove all the student's submissions and grades. If you make the person active again, or re-enroll the person, his or her submissions and interactions will return.

The Registrar will change an active student to inactive if he or she has a Registrar issue that must be resolved. Resolution of the issue should automatically change the person to active status again.

Unless you know for sure that the person is never going to access the course again, making "inactive" is the best bet.

To make a participant inactive:

Click Site Info. You should see a complete list of all participants under the heading "(coursename) Participant List." (You may have to scroll down, depending on how much information is in your Site Description listed at the top of the page.)

Beside the name of the person you want to change, choose "inactive" from the Status drop-down menu.

Click Update Participants.

To remove a participant:

Click Site Info. You should see a complete list of all participants under the heading "(coursename) Participant List." (You may have to scroll down, depending on how much information is in your Site Description listed at the top of the page.)

Beside the name of the person you want to remove, check the box under the "Remove" heading.